“[T]here can be no way of justifying the substantive assumption that all forms of altruism, solidarity and sacrifice really are ultra-subtle forms of self-interest, except by the trivializing gambit of arguing that people have concern for others because they want to avoid being distressed by their distress. And even this gambit [i]s open to the objection that rational distress-minimizers could often use more efficient means than helping others.”

— Jon Elster, Sour Grapes: Studies in the Subversion of Rationality (1983), p. 10